Lessons of Caution to Young Sinners, Title page – To the young reader
Les;ſons of Caution to Young Sinners. A SERMON Preach'd on Lord's-Day Sept. 23. 1733. Upon the affecting Occaſion OF An unhappy Young Woman preſent in the Aſſembly under Sentence of DEATH.
By Thomas Foxcroft, M. A. Paſtor to the Old Church in Boſton.
With a PREFACE by Mr. COOPER. And Mr. BYLES's CONFERENCE with the Priſoner as ſhe walk'd to the Place of Execution.
Deut. 22. 21. They ſhall bring out the Damſel, and ſtone her with Stones, that ſhe die, becauſe ſhe hath wrought Folly in Iſrael: So ſhalt thou put away Evil from among you.
Iſai. 42. 23. Who among you will give Ear to this? Who will hearken, and hear for the Time to come?
BOSTON: N. E. Printed and Sold by S. KNEELAND and T. GREEN, in Queen-ſtreet. MDCCXXXIII.
BOSTON, October 1. 1733.
ON Thurſday laſt Rebekah Chamblit was Executed here, according to a Sentence paſs'd upon her at the Superiour Court holden here for the County of Suffolk in Auguſt laſt, being then found Guilty of Felony, in concealing the Birth of … ſpurious Infant, which ſhe was deliver'd of when alone, and was afterwards found dead; which Fact is a plain violation of a good and wholſome Law of this Province: Which Law is here inſerted, for further ſpreading the Knowledge of it, and to prevent Lives being loſt thro' Ignorance thereof.
An Act to prevent the Deſtroying and Murdering of Baſtard Children.
WHEREAS many Lewd Women, that have been Delivereed of Baſtard Children, to avoid their Shame, and to eſcape Puniſhment do ſecretly Bury or Conceal the Death of their Children; and after, if the Child be found Dead, the ſaid Women do allege that the ſaid Child was born dead; whereas it falleth out ſometimes (although hardly it is to be proved) that the ſaid Child or Children were Murdered by the ſaid Women their Lewd Mothers, or by their Aſſent or Procurement.
Be it therefore Enacted by the Lieutenant Governour, Council and Repreſentatives, Convened in General aſſembly, and by the authority of the ſame, That if any Woman be Delivered of any Iſſue of her Body, Male or Female, which if it were born Alive, ſhould by Law be a Baſtard; and that ſhe endeavour privately, either by Drowning or ſecret Burying thereof, or any other way; either by her ſelf, or the procuring of others ſo to conceal the Death thereof, that it may not come to light, whether it were Born Alive or not, but be concealed: In every ſuch caſe the Mother ſo Offending, ſhall ſuffer Death, as in caſe of Murder. Except ſuch Mother can make proof by One Witneſs at the leaſt, that the Child whoſe Death was by her ſo intended to be concealed, was born Dead.
TO THE YOUNG READERS.
YOU have now in your Hands a very ſerious and pathetical SERMON, preach'd on a ſolemn & awful Occaſion, which it is wiſh'd and hop'd may, by the Efficacy of the Spirit of Grace, prove a means of Awakening, of Reſtraint, and of Converſion to many of you.
It is to be taken Notice of, That of the many Malefactors which have ſuffer'd Death among us within the Space of Sixteen Years paſt, not above one of them was born in this Country. But now our GOD has humbled us by leaving a Child of the Town, one under the ſacred Bonds of the Covenant, to thoſe Iniquities, more eſpecially the repeated Crimes of Unchaſtity, which have ripen'd her for the Vengeance of a Capital Execution; in which God has ſet her forth for an Example to the Children of New-England, to warn them not to Sin away their Convictions and Awakenings, and by rebelling againſt His Holy Spirit, provoke Him to take off His Reſtraints, and ſo leave them to thoſe Courſes that ſhall undo and deſtroy them.
It may be there is no Place in the World, where ſuch Pains are taken with condemn'd Criminals to prepare them for their Death; that in the Deſtruction of the Fleſh, the Spirit may be ſaved in the Day of the Lord Jeſus. The compaſſionate Judges always allow a conſiderable Time (commonly a Month at leaſt) after the Sentence is pronounc'd, before the Execution is proceeded in. All this while they are viſited, it may be every Day, by ſome or other of the Miniſters of the Town, to inſtruct them, direct them, and pray with them. They have alſo the Liberty to attend in our publick Aſſemblies, on Lecture-Days and on Lord's Days, that they may have the Benefit of thoſe Ordinances which CHRIST has appointed, and by the Working of His Spirit makes to be the effectual Means of the Converſion and Salvation of Sinners; when both the Prayers and Sermons are adapted to their particular Caſe & Circumſtances, while it is at the ſame time endeavour'd to improve the Providence for the Benefit of the numerous Concourſe of People, eſpecially of the Younger Sort, which uſually appear on ſuch an Occaſion
It was on the laſt Sabbath of her Life, that this poor Dau'ter of Death, and the great Aſſembly preſent, were entertain'd with the following Diſcourſe, on a Subject very ſutably choſen, ſtudiouſly calculated, not to gratify an itching Ear, but to reach the Heart and awaken the Conſcience; and therefore drawn up very much in Scripture Language, which carries a peculiar Force and Pungency with it; and is now publiſh'd with advantagious Enlargements in ſome Parts of the Application. The poor Creature her ſelf afterwards ſpake of it, and of the publiſhing it, in ſuch a Manner as gives ſome Reaſon to hope, it came with Power upon her Soul.
To this is added the Conference had with her in the Way to her Execution, by our worthy Brother who to gratify her own Deſire attended her thither; and has now recollected the Subſtance of what occur'd in that Converſation, to gratify ſome of his Friends who requeſted it of him; by which it appears the laſt, & therefore moſt precious Minutes of her Life, were improv'd to the beſt Advantage. Her Anſwers indeed were but ſhort; as ſhe never us'd to ſay much when we diſcourſed with her. But the Queſtions were the moſt proper & ſutable that could be, leading her, by a ſtudy'd & regular, yet eaſy & familiar Train of Tho't, into thoſe grand Points, in which is the Life of our Spirit. Many will be pleas'd, and I hope profited, to ſee them. The Reader may place himſelf in the View of Death, and then put them to his own Soul, till he feels the Impreſſion of them.
It appear'd to me one of the beſt Symptoms upon this poor Criminal, that ſhe ſeem'd deſirous her Example might be a Warning to others. She did therefore, of her own Accord, deſire ſome of the Miniſters, ſolemnly to caution Young People, not to have their Life, as hers had been, among the Unclean. So that in this Publication we do but come to you with a Meſſage from the dead; Or, She her ſelf does, as it were, come from the dead to warn you: tho', if you hear not Moſes and the Prophets, Chriſt and his Apoſtles, and his ordinary Miniſters, neither would you be perſwaded tho' one ſhould indeed come from the dead and ſpeak unto you. However that might terrifie you, it of it ſelf would not, could no convert you, unleſs the Holy Spirit ſet in with His Almighty Influences, which are moſt likely to be afforded in the Uſe of thoſe Means which are of his own Appointment.
How fit a Word is this, which GOD has directed his Servant to, wherewith to addreſs the Young Sinner, the vain and lewd Youth? If this will not awaken your Fears, to hear of the Wrath of Almighty GOD which is incens'd againſt you, and of that Stroke of his powerful Vengeance to which you are every Moment expos'd, and which, when it is once given, will ſend you into that Place of Miſery, from which there is no Redemption, no, not thro'out the endleſs Ages of Eternity; if this, I ſay, will not alarm your Fears, and awaken in you a moſt ſollicitous Concern how to eſcape the dreadful Danger you are in, and provide for the ſafety of your never-dying Soul, what will? If you can read ſuch a Sermon as this, and ſtill continue fearleſs and careleſs, and indulge your ſelf in criminal Courſes, in thoſe Impurities which the Holy One of Iſrael cannot look upon without the utmoſt Abhorrence; may it not juſtly be fear'd, that God has in a judicial way, pour'd out upon you the Spirit of deep Sleep, and given you up to your own Hearts Luſts till by filling up the meaſure of your Sin, you become prepared for that amazing Stroke, in which theſe awful Words will be again fulfill'd, and which will make you a Warning to others, as others have been to you?
I know there is in your Hearts a curſed Principle of Infidelity, that will ſuggeſt to you, "I ſhall have Peace, tho' I walk in the Imagination of my Heart, and add Iniquity to Iniquity." You may be ready to think your ſelves as ſecure of your Lives, as if you had made a Bargain with Death, not to come till you ſend for him; not to take you away with a Stroke, but to let you ſtand till old Age gradually conſumes you. So there were ſome of old who lull'd themſelves aſleep in carnal Security, ſaying, "We have made a Covenant with Death, and with Hell we are at Agreement; when the overflowing Scourge ſhall paſs through, it ſhall not come unto us." But they had this Anſwer from the Lord God, "Your Covenant with Death ſhall be diſannulled, and your Agreement with Hell ſhalt not ſtand; when the overflowing Scourge ſhall paſs through, then ye ſhall be troden down by it." †Iſai. 28. 15, 18.Don't then make Lies your Refuge, or ſeek to cover your ſelves in hiding Places of Deceit. Has not the Juſtice of God, made quick Work with other Sinners? When they have cried, Peace, Peace; ſudden Deſtruction has overtaken them. You ſee here, It was an Obſervation in the Days of Elihu, "They die in Youth, whoſe Lives are among the Unclean". And has not the Obſervation been verified all along, from that Day to this? For the Scripture is continually fulfilling in Providence.
I could my ſelf tell you of a Youth whom I knew that was once of very Promiſing Hopes, but as he grew to Manhood ſadly diſappointed the Expectations of thoſe who before that beholding him loved him. Being ask'd by a religious Friend who was griev'd to ſee ſuch an Alteration in him, "How he had laid out his Life, and intended to ſpend it"? He anſwer'd to this Purpoſe, "In …ſting the Pleaſures of it as much as he could" Upon which being ſeaſonably put in Mind, That the Time of his Life might be ſhorter than he was aware of; He made this Reply. "That he doubted not but he ſhou'd ſee fourſcore Years at leaſt." But within that Number of Days, he was taken away with the ſtroke of a ſudden & immature Death, in ſuch a Way as made the Ears of all that heard it to tingle. Behold now the Severity and goodneſs of God! Towards them who have been taken away by His Stroke, Righteous Severity; but towards thee, who art ſtill ſpared and warned, Goodneſs, if thou doſt not continue to deſpiſe and abuſe it.
I have two Things to requeſt of you before you read this Sermon, and then I'll no longer detain you. The one is, That you would pray over it before you read it; that God would accompany the Reading of it with the Effectual Operation of his Spirit, without which the moſt Powerful Words Man can uſe, will be but as a dead Letter, altogether ineffectual to Convert & Sanctify you.
The other is, That after you have read it, You would allow your ſelf Time to think on what you have read, and enter into a ſolemn Debate with your own Soul thereupon. Seriouſly ask your ſelf then, "Whether you can think it ſafe to continue in your ſinful Courſes one Day longer?" "Whether it is not the Madneſs of Folly in you, to looſe your Soul, your precious and immortal Soul, rather than part with a baſe Luſt"? "Whether you had not better forego the Company of Sinners now, than have your Soul gather'd with them hereafter"? If any of you ſhould ſtill ſay, "I have loved Strangers, and after them I will go". "I muſt indulge my Luſts and enjoy my ſinful Companions, tho' I forfeit the Favour of God, and expoſe my ſelf to his Vengeance for ever". Then, Know it, You wilfully damn your own Soul: You chuſe Death in the Cauſes of it. Your Part muſt be with the Unbelieving, and the Abominable, in the Lake that burns with Fire and Brimſtone, which is the ſecond Death. You ſhall go when you die, and that will be very ſoon, to the Generation of your Fathers, the unclean Sinners that have died before you, and are ſhut up in the Priſon of Darkneſs; You ſhall never ſee Light: So ſhall thy Doom be, Thou thy ſelf haſt decided it.
But that God may bleſs this Diſcourſe to every one of you that ſhall read it, to preſerve the Virtuous Youth, reclaim the Vicious, and eſtabliſh the Pious; and ſo make the Preaching and Publiſhing it ſerve to heighten the Author's Joy, and brighten his Crown in the Day of CHRIST, is the hearty Prayer of
Your compaſſionate, Soul's Friend, W. Cooper.